Network computing environments operate according to one or more networking protocols, which may provide rules and regulations for traffic on the corresponding networks. For example, one common networking protocol is INTERNET PROTOCOL version six (“IPv6”), which corresponds to an updated version of the previous INTERNET PROTOCOL version four. INTERNET PROTOCOL version six includes subsidiary rules and protocols, such as the NEIGHBOR DISCOVERY PROTOCOL (“NDP”). NDP regulates several functions for IPv6, including address autoconfiguration of nodes, discovery of other nodes on the link, and determination of the link layer addresses of other nodes. NDP also includes a NEIGHBOR UNREACHABILITY DETECTION (“NUD”) protocol, which, in comparison to IPv4, improves the robustness of packet delivery in the presence of failing routers or links.
The NUD protocol categorizes network nodes into one or more states to indicate whether the nodes are reachable by another node. To determine whether the nodes are reachable, the other node may transmit a specialized message, which is called a neighbor solicitation. In response, the other nodes may reply by transmitting another specialized message, which is called a neighbor advertisement. After first categorizing a node as reachable, the NUD protocol specifies rules for potentially expiring the categorization and eventually restarting the process of exchanging node solicitation and node advertisement messages.
Nevertheless, in a network environment with a large number of nodes, numerous categorizations of other nodes as reachable may expire at the same or substantially the same time. For example, one node may learn about approximately 100,000 other nodes in the span of a second. In this case, all of the reachability categorizations for these other nodes may expire at approximately the same time, which may stress or choke the network and underlying devices. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for detecting network neighbor reachability.